SHILLONG: The 3500km (approx) long Indo-China border frontier which is guarded by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) – has got a new director general (DG) in Subhas Goswami, a 1977 batch IPS officer of the joint Assam – Meghalaya cadre.
Goswami will take over the reins of ITBP – raised on October 24, 1962 during the Chinese aggression – after demitting Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPS), Hyderabad where he is posted at present as its director.
Goswami will succeed the former DG Ajay Chadha – who retired on August 30 after assuming office on December 19, 2012 – as the 30th DG of ITBP and serve till the end of 2014.
He is expected to take over immediately after a passing out parade in his present place of posting. The SVPNPS is the academy which trains IPS officers in the country.
Presently ITBP is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3500km (approx) of Indo-China Border and manning border outposts on altitudes raging from 9000` to 18700` in the Western, Middle and Eastern Sector of the Indo-China Border.
ITBP also keeps vigilances on the northern borders, detection and prevention of border violations and promotion of the sense of security among the local populace; check illegal immigration, trans-border smuggling and crimes; security to sensitive installations, banks and protected persons; restore and preserve order in any area in the event of disturbance.
ITBP is a specialized mountain force and most of its officers and men are professionally trained mountaineers and skiers.
It has rendered relief and rescue operations in the aftermath of the natural disaster in Uttaranchal, recently, combating floods and rain by its troopers and even lost some personnel while discharging duties.
Apart from guarding the Indo-China border, the force is also utilized for VIP security, militant operations, security risks and is having a North East Frontier office at Old Arunachal Pradesh Secretariate building in the city.
